Inequalities in Suicide Rates in the European Union's Elderly: Trends and Impact of Macro-Socioeconomic Factors Between 1980 and 2006

Objective: To study suicide rates in elderly people in the former European Community, known as the European Union (EU) since late 1993, to identify differences between early members (admitted to the EU before 2004) and new members (admitted after 2004), and to evaluate the association between macro-socioeconomic variables and suicide rates. Method: We explored temporal trends in age-adjusted suicide rates for people aged 65 years and older residing in the EU from 1980 to 2006. Results: In the years examined in the study, there has been a general decrease in suicide rates in new and early members of the EU, although more slowly for elderly men than for women. The decrease in suicide rates of citizens aged 65 years and older was associated with a small but significant difference between new and early members of the EU (RR = 1.04, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.05; z = 11.95, P < 0.001). The macro-socioeconomic indices were strongly associated with age-adjusted suicide rates in EU senior citizens, except unemployment rates. Conclusions: Deaths by suicide in elderly people are declining in all EU nations, but inequalities in the suicide rates of men and women remain, especially in new EU members.